Learning, innovation and public policy:the emergence of the Brazilian pulp and paper industry

This paper considers the role of interactive learning for sectoral innovation systems and policies. The vehicle of this discussion is the emergence of Brazilian pulp and paper industry during the 20th century, and we explore its development as a network learning phenomenon, and highlight how dynamics of technological learning shifted as the organization of industry and its sectoral innovation system expanded and changed in tandem with the advance of strategic knowledge frontiers. Right balance of coordination and competition in the system fostered demand-led innovation system, allowed Brazilian firms to integrate efficiently in global learning networks, and nurtured entrepreneurial culture that eventually leveraged industrial change. The subsequent expansion and success of Brazilian pulp and paper industry can to a great extent be credited to the sectoral innovation system and its dual strategy, which has established a clear division of labor between fundamental innovation and knowledge transfer. Both private firms and the public sectoral innovation system have focused Brazilian cutting edge research, development, and innovation efforts on the improvement of eucalyptus, the primary source of superior competitive advantage for the Brazilian pulp and paper industry, and in other science and technology areas created efficient mechanisms to transfer the best available scientific and technological solutions from abroad to Brazil